Between Ruin and Ecstasy (Remastered)
by SepticMind
Summary: Jinx liked a lot of things. She liked sugary drinks, and cakes smothered in icing. She liked loud music, and alcohol, and dancing. She liked the rush of adrenaline she got from fighting and causing trouble. She didn't like surprises. Never had. And she definitely didn't like the surprise 'visitor' stood opposite her, dressed in leather and silk and blocking her path.


Jinx liked a lot of things. She liked sugary drinks, and cakes smothered in icing. She liked loud music, and alcohol, and dancing. She liked the rush of adrenaline that she got from fighting and causing trouble. She even liked to have the odd quiet day or two to spend baking or drawing. She _didn't_ like surprises. Never had, and she definitely didn't like the surprise 'visitor' stood opposite her, dressed in leather and silk and blocking her path to her current place of residence.

Jinx recognised the garnet coloured tank top as a spur of the moment present she'd brought the woman a few years ago. She even recognised the leather pants, the sight of them bringing back memories of late night laughter as she tried – with much difficulty – to remove the skin-tight trousers off the woman with repeated curses and blasphemies, never having been known for her patience. The cold look in her amethyst eyes was much less familiar. In fact, the last time Jinx had been at the receiving end of such a look, it had been during her teenage years, when her and the former titan had been nothing more than opponents. She wasn't sure whether the look scared her more then, or now.

"You don't look much different." Jinx finally said, her voice loud, but not as strong as she'd hoped it would sound. Not that it really mattered. Raven was – after all – an empath, among other things.

But what she'd said was the truth. In roughly three years, the woman hadn't seemed to change an inch. Her amethyst hair, looking almost midnight blue in the darkness, still fell in a curtain to her hips like it had since the day she'd turned twenty-one. Her weight hadn't visibly changed, nor had the delicate but definitely-there curves to her body, and Jinx found herself self-consciously tugging down on the hem of her t-shirt. She's always been underweight, but the past year or two hadn't been kind on her, and she felt no need to inform Raven of that.

After a minute or two of more silence from Raven, Jinx found she couldn't take it anymore, and blurted out the first thing she thought might raise a reaction from the empath.

"Not talkin', huh? What did you do? Cut out your tongue in some weird, demonic practice?"

"The vow of silence is only undertaken by traitors, spys, or the most devoted of servants, of which I am neither." Raven spoke, her voice holding no signs of amusement.

"You kinda went against your father that time. What, family disputes don't count?"

"I won."

"Oh, yes. Because that answers everything." Trying to steady her nerves, Jinx made herself walk those last few feet towards the demoness. "Now, if you'll 'xcuse me, it's late, and I've got a big day tomorrow."

Raven didn't move aside. In fact, she seemed to grow to fill the width of the alleyway, making the meta human stop and stumble back a few steps in alarm. Knowing Raven was both capable of altering her physical form and releasing an imposing aura to the same effect, Jinx squinted at the woman as she tried to figure out which one she'd done.

"You smell of liquor." Raven stated.

"Yup. Spent my night at a local bar, having a much needed drink or two, but I bet you knew that. So, what did I do to deserve a visit from you?"

Raven folded her arms as she asked, "Tell me Jinx, what is today's date?"

"Not sure I even know what month it is." She replied, before shrugging. "The twenty-second?"

"You mean you've forgotten?" The empath's tone went from emotionless to something much more fiery. And something else. Jinx could have sworn she'd sounded _hurt_, but quickly put it down to her imagination.

The tone did, however, give her some clue as to what it was she should have remembered, and she smiled at Raven, aware she was aggravating the former titan, and enjoying it. "I'm trying to."

Jinx didn't hear or see Raven move, but pain suddenly burst through her head as it smacked into a brick wall, her body making impact moments later. She was pretty sure her ass would have found the ground if the demon-halfling hadn't gotten such a tight grip on her forearms. She watched with groggy eyes as Raven leaned in until the woman's face was inches away from her own.

"You left me without saying anything. You just _vanished_." The empath's grip on Jinx's arms tightened until the pain began to rival the pain in her head. It didn't help with her concentration, and she struggled to keep her eyes focused on Raven. "I waited you to come back. A whole month, I sat waiting like an idiot."

Raven's hands were suddenly gone, and Jinx slid down the wall onto her ass, craving the heat from Raven's touch the moment it was gone. Had Jinx not been in pain, and had it been anyone else but Raven, she would have felt guilty. As it was, she only had room for pain and fear.

Of course, that didn't stop her stupid mouth. "Did you try therapy? I've been told it's great for things like that. Not had much time for it personally. The group therapy they made me go to when they signed me into prison for the first time put me _straight_ off it."

Raven crouched down in front of the woman. "I want to know why. Why you left."

"What? Before you kill me? You _know_ why." Jinx muttered somewhat impatiently, closing her eyes as she listened to the pain throbbing through her skull, sure it was audible, and wondering if she had a mild concussion.

"Do I?"Her voice was quieter, uncertain, and it made Jinx open her eyes and look at the woman, heaving been reminded of the almost _scared_ person Raven had been when they'd both first approached the idea of making their romantic relationship official. Those four years hadn't quite completely changed Raven, like she'd believed.

"You're joking right? I never knew whether I was coming or going with you. No one had ever made me feel that uncertain before, and I _hated _it. The way you'd be all… loving and affectionate one moment, then cold and unreachable the next. And don't even get me started on your background. Do you know how intimidating – how… stressful – it is to love the daughter of a fucking interdimensionally known demon? Especially when you locked me out. Do you know how many times I had worried you'd grown bored of me, and that you were seeing someone else? Someone better?" Her headache was forgotten as she finally got the chance to say everything she'd wanted to say, monologues she'd repeated to herself again and again over the last three years in an attempt to curb the guilty feelings she'd gotten from leaving the empath like she had. "You were driving me insane."

She slumped her head back against the wall as the last three years tormented her mind. After leaving Raven and the city, she'd spent the first year aimlessly wandering, her thoughts plagued by Raven – first with fear that the woman would suddenly appear and extract her revenge, then with a sense of conviction as she told herself she was better off, and finally with a reluctant feeling of longing. She'd picked up her criminal activities again not long after in the hopes of it providing a distraction, and it did as she ran from one situation to the next, always in trouble, barely managing to keep her head above water.

"You still are." She muttered quietly, suddenly feeling so tired, closing her eyes again. "Now, we both know you didn't come here for a simple conversation. Just get it over with, would you?"

They'd been quiet – the alleyway was well sheltered – no one was looking for them, and she could still feel the scalding anger that had been radiating off Raven not minutes earlier. She wasn't the same woman she'd been when she was a titan, and Jinx knew part of that was her fault. Part. She wasn't going to take full responsibility for the change that made Robin kick her out of the titans, not when Raven had her father's genetics for that.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and found the empath glaring at the floor. Jinx sighed, using the wall for support as she stood, her head throbbing; leaving Raven crouched on the floor.

"Fine. I'd say it was nice to see you, but it's never nice to be thrown about by someone you know could crush you in the blink of an eye, so I'm gonna go home an' do anything I can to forget I even saw you. However, if you… wanted to come knocking at any point, I'm not gonna leave you on my door step, even if it was just so you could throw some threats my way." Jinx smiled slightly. "Hah. Like I'd be able to keep you outside anyway."

* * *

**A/N: Re-written at 2am in the morning, a while after **_**TyrionGreywind**_** suggested I make it into a multi-chapter. And I might just do that. **


End file.
